Please Make Me Wise

[1]

1 Kings 3:9 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

⁹ Please make me wise and teach me the difference between right and wrong. Then I will know how to rule your people. If you don’t, there is no way I could rule this great nation of yours.

 

A promise I have relied on over and over again is the promise in James 1:5 stating that if anyone lack wisdom he should ask God for it and it will be given him.

The La Sierra University president encouraged us to have prayer every day in class. I had never had this habit and felt that it was merely a formality. I have always been a firm believer in the value of prayer. However, I felt that in order for prayer to be meaningful, it should be prayed by someone who felt the need. One year, however, I decided to try reading a verse and praying at the beginning of every class period.

Jonathan[2] was one of those troublesome students. He expected everyone to bow to his wishes. He complained to my department chair that I was taking 20 minutes for roll call and devotions. My chair was quite upset with me and let me know that in no uncertain terms. She was on the verge of demanding that I quit having devotions at the beginning of class.

Breathing a prayer for wisdom, I reminded her that the president had requested that we start class with prayer. She backed off the demand that I not do it, of course. She didn’t tell me who the troublemaker was, but she gave me enough details so that it was obvious Jonathan was behind it. I also told her that I knew who had complained and that he was one to exaggerate freely and quoted a couple examples from some interchanges I had already had with him.

For the next couple days, I kept track of exactly how long devotions and roll call took, and it was certainly less than 5 minutes. But I concentrated on Jonathan in both prayer and attention. While always quick to criticize and complain, he soon became my strongest supporter. Although he had failed this class the quarter before, this time he ended up with a strong B in the class.

Thank you, Lord, for Your quick response whenever we need wisdom!

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[1] https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/dealing-with-employees-who-complain/

[2] Name changed to protect the student’s identity 

Fourscore Years

 

[1]

Psalm 90:10, 12 American Standard Version

¹⁰ The days of our years are threescore years and ten,
Or even by reason of strength fourscore years;
Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow;
For it is soon gone, and we fly away.
¹² So teach us to number our days,
That we may get us a heart of wisdom.

 

The other day we held a reunion of friends who grew up or served in Southern Africa. About twenty of us showed up. This had dwindled over the pandemic, when we would often have forty in attendance. I estimate that the average age was about fourscore years; in one sense or another we must all have “strength.” From the conversation it appears that all of them had been vaccinated and “boosted.” In spite of all the sophistry and circumlocution that goes around, it is only wise to accept with rejoicing what the Lord has graciously given this generation.

Some of us were missionaries in Africa: some of us were born there. All of us are well educated, enjoy the outdoors, appreciate the arts, and revel in the love of God. All are doing something, even at this advanced age, to help our fellow humans. All of us have attained to a fair amount of wisdom.

We should be labeled sophomores in its classical sense. In case your classical knowledge is a bit rusty, sophomore is the concatenation of the two Greek words, “Sophos”—clever or wise—and “moros”—foolish, i.e., wise fools.

A rather outspoken friend of mine, not at our reunion, cajoles us rather frequently that the only way to achieve immortality is to author and publish books. He foresees his grandchildren reading the novels he is writing and sees them rediscovering him. He writes well into the wee hours of the morning every day. Is that a form of numbering our days?

The other morning a fire-engine and an ambulance, lights flashing, parked in front of the house across the street. I waved at Peggy as she lay on a stretcher inside the ambulance, and she smiled wanly and waved weakly back. As we see our friends and contemporaries check out of this state of “labor and sorrow,” it reminds us that our names are perilously close to the top of the list. Peggy is back home now, and her daughter tells me her pervasive pain has been brought under control. For the time being, she has beaten the grim reaper.

Thank You, Lord, for reminding us of the tenuous nature of our present existence and the eternity you have prepared for us.

 

 

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[1] Eighty-and-Eighteen by John William Godward

Great Things God Has Done

[1]

Deuteronomy 10:21

Good News Translation

²¹ Praise him—he is your God, and you have seen with your own eyes the great and astounding things that he has done for you.

Great and marvelous are Your works, O God.

 Sylvia and I drove over 8,700 miles or 14,000 kilometers through nineteen states during the months of June, July and August this year—without mishap. Closer to home, Sylvia was driving when each of our preceding two vehicles were totaled, yet she walked away from each accident. Last year she fell approximately 30 feet down a nearly vertical rock face and survived well enough so that, although she broke six or seven bones and gashed her head wide open, she is now living principally without pain.

 Cancer struck me some 16 years ago. I am still fighting it and keeping it at bay. The major reason for our trip this summer was to gain a new weapon in that battle. Since the cancer started, I have overcome West Nile Virus and have had COVID-19 and survived it well through the intervention of God and my being vaccinated. (I believe that God has given humans the wisdom and skill to develop the vast medical knowledge and skill we see in modern medicine today. He did this for our, your, and my comfort. Aren’t we denying Him if we choose to not avail ourselves of these God-given benefits?) I am also seeing, even though painful blindness struck me a year ago.

Indeed, I praise You, O God, for the great and astounding things You have done for me!

  

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[1] Sylvia in helicopter after her fall while Wil and our daughter Julia look on.

Astrology and Reincarnation

[i]

Revelation 22:1-3

Good News Translation

22 The angel also showed me the river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal, and coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² and flowing down the middle of the city's street. On each side of the river was the tree of life, which bears fruit twelve times a year, once each month; and its leaves are for the healing of the nations. ³ Nothing that is under God's curse will be found in the city. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him.

 

Beryl (name changed) phoned Sylvia up and invited us to share a meal together at a local restaurant. It’s wonderful to not have to worry about COVID-19 right now and still feel safe. Beryl got us a booth, and we chatted as we waited for our orders. She spoke of the times we live in and how everything is falling apart. With fear written all over her face she spoke of multiple conspiracies and how dark the future looked.

She had been born in Italy and grew up in the Catholic church. She loved its pomp and ceremonies. Then she became an Adventist, and married an Adventist. Later her husband had drifted away from her and the church and become quite bitter about the church. She had come to believe in reincarnation and pitied a mutual friend of ours who is now dead, possibly from suicide. Now the friend will have to start the life process all over again working the way up towards nirvana. She explained how her life was like climbing a ladder towards better and better things—first Catholic, then Adventism, and now an even higher status. When she learned my birthday, she commented that I was Aquarius-born and what my personality was like.

She told how she had recently listened to the Book of Revelation again. After a long account of terrible troubles, she remarked how the book ended from chapter 19 to the end. She mentioned how the Mark of the Beast was introduced in chapter 19. And then the glorious description of the New Earth where only peace, happiness and joy reign, [I resisted telling her the Mark of the Beast is actually introduced in chapter 13, and the description of Paradise starts in chapter 21.] I thoroughly enjoyed the hope and faith she was expressing and didn’t want to spoil it.

She admonished: “You must listen to the book of Revelation again. It really gives you a lot of hope.” Then her mood darkened as she thought again about all our current troubles and dismal future. With a silent prayer for wisdom, I encouraged her to keep her eyes focused on Christ. Each time her worries take over, she must look at Christ and what He has done for her. As she ascends this ladder of hers, she must always have Christ with her. She brightened up again at this suggestion. She agreed that this would work.

As we parted, she thanked me for the words of encouragement I had given her. Please pray for Beryl.

Lord, as time runs down, Satan is redoubling his efforts to take all mankind into hell with him. Please redouble the power of Your Holy Spirit in our lives to resist him.

 

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[i] https://www.psephizo.com/revelation/can-the-book-of-revelation-help-us-engage-with-culture/

 

Don't Be Afraid

[i]

Isaiah 41:10 

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁰ Fear thou not; for I am with thee:

     be not dismayed; for I am thy God:

I will strengthen thee;

     yea, I will help thee;

          yea, I will uphold thee

with the right hand of my righteousness.

For my entire career I had been teaching mathematics. Many students hated mathematics; they feared it and were dismayed that they had to take it in order to graduate. I used everything I could think of to try and break down that fear. Those who would actually do what I told them to do in class and for homework usually succeeded well. They didn’t always lose their hatred for the subject, but at least they gained an assurance that they could do it. It gave them a feeling of empowerment that bolstered them for the rest of their college life.

Success comes from doing, not wishing for or dreaming about it, but from sitting down and actually sweating through the details until they began to see why it worked for them. Naturally there were some who expected—even demanded—that I do the work for them and give them a grade representative of what I could do. I would hold review sessions before major tests and exams. I would give daily quizzes that were aimed at making them acquainted with the kinds of questions I would later put on tests. I often handed out copies of previous exams I had given in that topic so they could work through them. I encouraged them to use these to simulate their exam experience. This was to help them to relieve their own stress during the in-class tests. I knew it had worked for me and that many students told me it had worked well for them, too.

I always explained to each class that when God promised wisdom to us—see James 1:5—there were no conditions attached to that promise. God would always give them wisdom. We would always pray for wisdom before each test.

Early on in teaching I discovered that each class had its own “personality.” A few classes stonewalled themselves behind an attitude of resisting everything I did for them. They refused to do homework or prepare for tests. They tried to demand that I give them a passing grade simply because they came to class regularly. One time six students, each bigger than I, marched into my office furious that the test I gave was not an exact copy of a previous test that I had given them for review. When I pointed out that, of course, the answers weren’t the same because the questions were similar but not identical, they vowed revenge. The next morning when I went out to my car to go to class, I found that the windshield had been smashed by a violent blow with a baseball bat. I told my class what had happened and explained that I was apparently doing too much for them. In the future they should look at their textbook for examples for tests and prepare for them in that way. Fortunately, I’ve had no more bat impressions in my windshield.

Thank You, Lord, for living up to Your promise to strengthen, help and uphold us, and for the fact that You really do that.

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[i] https://carbuzz.com/news/smashing-your-ferrari-s-windshield-with-a-baseball-bat-is-labor-day-fun

What if there were no Bible?

[i]

1 Corinthians 1:4-5

Good News Translation (GNT)

⁴ I always give thanks to my God for you because of the grace he has given you through Christ Jesus. ⁵ For in union with Christ you have become rich in all things, including all speech and all knowledge.

Looking back over the history of the human race as generally outlined in the Bible from Adam to me, I often ponder what it must have been like to be a follower of the LORD. Apparently Adam and Eve got to talk to God face to face. However this did not last very long.

When our earliest ancestors sinned, God met with them personally, perhaps for the last time. This time He[ii] showed them how to kill and skin an animal. Then He showed them how to sew clothes from the animal’s skin to cover their nakedness. I assume He also showed them how to offer a sacrifice on an altar using the same animal. Apparently it was only much later that people started eating animals with God’s blessing.

Thereafter God very seldom communicated directly with humans. We can list a few: Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses. People were expected to remember what they had learned about God’s will. Apparently when Moses came, he wrote down human history and God’s instructions. These were carefully stored inside the Ark of the Covenant. The average person never saw these words.

By the time Christ walked on the earth, it seems that most Jewish meeting houses had some or all of the earlier writings that later came to be parts of our Bible. These had been laboriously copied out by hand and so were extremely expensive. Still the average person on the street had probably never read or owned even a part of the Bible. They were still expected to order their lives by what they had heard read to them.

Is it any wonder that so many people never heard God’s word in their whole lives? Is it any wonder that so many religions sprang up all over the world? Finally, in the 15^th century, printing was invented, and the first book ever printed was indeed the Bible. Over the years printed versions of God’s word have become more and more available. In this millennium it has become very easy to get the Bible on your cell phone for free. So we have indeed become “rich” in God’s word. With this “wealth” has come the responsibility of learning what our Creator’s will is for us individually and experiencing the Grace of Christ directly.

Thank You, Lord, for giving us Your Word so abundantly. Grant us wisdom to read and profit from it.

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[i] https://teatimewithev.com/kaleidoscope/printed-bible-or-cell-phone-bible

[ii] I use the masculine pronoun for God advisedly because the vast majority of translations of Scripture that I own, as well as the Greek and Hebrew texts, use it. I do not believe God has reproductive organs like humans and animals do.

God Does Speak to Us Directly

Habakkuk 2:2

King James Version (KJV)

² And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

For years I envied Abraham. When he wanted to know something he simply asked God and God answered him. That was simple enough! I wished God would answer me when I desperately needed to know which way to go. As time went by for me, I began to sense that in reality God wasn’t right there at Abraham’s beck and call. We only have record of three or four times when God actually spoke to Abraham. Abraham lived about 180 years, so on the average he received an answer from God about once every 45 years. And, of course, I have an advantage Abraham did not have: the sacred Scriptures that record God’s answers to others.

My wife, Sylvia, and I have been collecting letters we wrote from Africa over the years we were serving as missionaries there. The other day I ran across a letter I wrote on April 30, 1979. It addressed God’s response to an issue we had faced for over a year.

Soon after we married, we committed our lives to be missionaries to Africa. We enjoyed our work and stay in Africa and loved the people we worked with there. The issue at that time involved our furlough home to the U.S. coming due in 1979. Complications had arisen that were demanding our attention but were beyond our ability to solve. We asked the Lord to clearly indicate to us whether we should return to the U.S. permanently or return to Africa for another term. The Lord provided a double response in January that He clearly wanted us to permanently return to the U.S.

Sometimes the Lord has to hit me up the side of my head with a two-by-four to catch my attention. Both Sylvia and I wanted to remain in Africa, so we laid plans to continue to stay there. But this decision weighed very heavily on my mind. It seemed to me that I was ignoring God’s clear word, and I could gain no rest. Matters came to a head on Friday, April 27. That evening His response was as clear as if a voice spoke audibly to me. It said in the tone of absolute authority and gentle reproof, “I already told you!” I sensed I had been proceeding in a path of open rebellion to what God had personally revealed to me.

That is the closest I have ever come to sensing that God was speaking directly to me. I thank the Lord of heaven and earth for stooping to communicate with someone as insignificant as I. The other day as I read that 1979 letter to her, I asked Sylvia how she felt about our decision to return permanently to the U.S. at that time. She agreed with me that it has certainly been the best for us and our family.

Thank You, almighty Lord, Creator of our vast universe, for being sufficiently interested in each one of us to be willing to guide us when we really need You.

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http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/~/media/9b929b827b024a27bf5ec7ca1819f110.ashx?w=480&hash=408B149D5003DD49F949DF2C0E2F5032D03AFD51